PROTECTING COMMUNITY LANDS AND NATURAL RESOURCES:

Arach David JamesCommunity Land Protection Program, Namati

The need for community Land protection

Climate change, food and water insecurity, population growth, limited natural resources 3 “levels” of land grabs:1. Large scale land concessions2. National elites3. “Stronger” community or family

members grabbing from “weaker”

Urgent need to empower communities to document and protect their customary land claims

Farms – past use, future use

Communal grazing land

Communal forest

The ENTIRE AREA is community land

Farms – used today

(0) Defining the “community” and ensuring participation

Strengthening community governance of lands and resources

Land documents can be dangerous without accountable leaders and participatory governance!

Unwritten rules can be manipulated by the powerful to claim or transact land without community approval.

Intra-community discrimination weakens rights of women and minorities.

Process:

• Drafting by-laws for good governance of community lands and natural resources

• Making a zoning plan (linking rules to the landscape)

• Electing Land Governance Councils

The by-laws drafting process

• A community-wide brainstorming or “shouting out” of past and current rules (1st draft).

• Legal education.

• Community analysis, discussion and revision of old rules; addition of new rules in light of evolving needs (2nd draft).

• Facilitators convene meetings re: women’s rights, zoning, transparent financial management, other necessary topics.

• Legal & technical analysis of by-laws to ensure that they align with national law.

• Community revision of any rules that violate the law (3rd draft).

• Formal adoption of a FINAL draft by consensus or super-majority vote.

• Community immediately elects Land Governance Council, using the new by-laws.

Suggested by-laws structure

I. Rules About Governance Of Land And Natural Resources• Community definition, land ownership/land

holding, Land Governance Council, community decision-making processes, women’s & minority groups’ rights, keeping documents safe, interactions with investors, financial management etc.

II. Rules about use and management of land and natural resources • Food resources, water, community forests and

grazing lands, harvesting and gathering resources, sacred areas, cultural areas, protected areas and restricted areas, commercial use of community resources, zoning plan, ecosystem regeneration plan

III. Social and cultural rules

Good practices for by-laws drafting

• Let the community set the pace and content of the by-laws

• Make sure the process is fully participatory while ensuring healthy debate! The by-laws are in the community’s own words, not “legalese.”

Women challenge perceptions that land is “men’s business” by showing their wisdom within women’s “spheres of expertise”

• Handle the process of writing down customary rules carefully – what is not captured may be lost.

Necessary to work with customary justice institutions to ensure application of by-laws in family land conflict resolution.

• Take care to ensure that existing leaders will implement and enforce the by-laws and concede power to the new Land Governance Council.

Important to work with men and leaders to remind them to protect and provide for women and children = ensuring women’s rights.

Goals of the by-laws process

• Protections for women and minority groups’ rights.

• Increased accountability of leaders.

• Greater democratic participation by community members in land and natural resources management decisions.

• Increased conservation and sustainable natural resources management.

• Alignment of customary rules with national law.

• Strong foundations for future community prosperity.

Ensuring implementation and enforcement of by-laws

• Ensure process is highly participatory rules reflect the community’s will, not leaders’ will.

• Involve all leaders, especially those who arbitrate land conflicts.

• Ensure the by-laws are widely known.

• Give copies to local officials and magistrates; invite them to support enforcement.

• Create a list of practical next steps to make the by-laws “real” (during or after drafting).

• Ensure that by-laws include a plan for managing collected fees and fines.

• Create “Watch Dog” groups.

• Hold annual, highly participatory by-laws amendment meetings.

Thank you so much

Arach David Jamesdavidarach@namati.org

Skype ID: namatidavidarach+254 791 922 097www.namati.org

NamatiKenya